ONE YEAR ON...

It`s a year almost to the day since Dudley took up residence in our house - he`s now 14 months old and has settled very well into the routines and ways of life here in our Kentish enclave.   The photo above shows that he has made good friends with the local pooches and seems to be a happy and contented addition to the local community.

He came from a breeder in the New Forest and we had a week in the forest last month, enjoying the forest walks and the change of scenery.   Apart from that, Dudley`s explorations have been confined to walkies around this part of Kent - including  a bit of the Kent Downs.  Here`s a photo I took of the Kent countryside in all its summer glory.   

(Please click on photo for better image)

No wonder we have happy dogs - we feed them, love them, look after them, provide them with a good home and a contented life - we even pick up things after them if you know what I mean.   But in return we get a lot back - if you don`t mind your face being licked awake at 6.00am each morning.

A REFRESHING CHANGE...

For all kinds of reasons I have been enjoying watching the England Lionesses in their Women`s World Cup campaign in France.   And not just for the fact that they keep winning, although the next game in the semi-finals between either France or the USA might possibly be a step too far.  For their sake, I hope not and that they can carry on progressing towards the World Cup Final.

What`s refreshing about it is the way the games are played.   By and large, unless you`re Cameroonian, there is a genuine feeling of sportwomanship, there are no tattoos on show, there are no histrionics, no diving or cheating and the games have been played in a good spirit despite the intense rivalry - all unless you`re Cameroonian of course.

The quality of the football shown by the Lionesses has been impressive - not least last night`s convincing win over Norway and I`m not surprised to read this morning that Manchester United are looking to sign Lucy Bronze along with the other 386 players they are reported to be tracking as Ole Gunnar Solskjar  tries to make sense of the task that awaits him in the new season.

But at least Liverpool have so far refrained from poaching the burgeoning Saintesses from St. Mary`s.  I wonder how long that will last.  

TIME TO STOP DIGGING...

Apropos my recent observations concerning Harry and Meg`s country cottage, it now seems the cost to the taxpayer has been a little understated.  Apparently the work is not quite finished - exterior painting to be done, landscaping, installation of security lights and the planting of £20,000 worth of quick-growing trees to ensure the seclusion of the `cottage.`  Oh and there are also plans for a badminton and tennis court, of course.   All of which will bring the total bill to anything between £2,8 million and £3.2 million, including the £250,000 contribution from the happy couple`s own resources for `fittings and fixtures.`

Royal officials have admitted that the cost to taxpayers is likely to rise and a well placed source has claimed that, "The final figure is excellent value for money for the taxpayer.  Whilst the original figure of £2.4 million has covered basic renovation costs the couple have spent £250,000 so far to ensure that the highest standards are met inside the property."  He goes on to say, "Security for the couple is of the utmost importance and a large scale planting programme worth up to £20,000 is proposed to shield the property from public gaze."

The `well placed source` is shown above and it`s pretty clear that he lacks any sense of irony.  For example, how can it be `excellent value for the taxpayer` when the taxpayer is having to cough up £20,000 for a forest of trees which are designed to prevent the taxpayer ever being able to see what his or her money has been spent on?   He`s got himself in a bit of a hole so If I were him, I would stop digging.   

And don`t even get me started on the fact that the taxpayer is also having to find $750,000 a year on the 20 Met. and Thames Valley police required to guard Frogmore Cottage.  Next up - La-la land The Movie.

A SIMPLE SOLUTION ? ...

There`s been a lot of fuss recently about the proposed withdrawal of free TV licences for the over-75s.   This `concession` was introduced by, of all people, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and was much appreciated by the country`s senior citizens but the last settlement for renewing the BBC charter and HM Gov. saw the `cost` of this transferred from the Treasury to the BBC who say they can`t afford the £750 million it will take to maintain the concession without drastically cutting the level and quality of programming - and we can`t possibly have that, can we?

So, a simple solution is required and there is indeed a simple one.  Next month I will be joining the ranks of the octogenarians so I suggest that the BBC maintains the free licence to those over 80.  Simples.

But then, as HL Menken once said, "There is a simple solution to every complex problem that doesn`t work."  In which case, if I still have to pay up, at least I will feel justified in my unending criticism of the BBC.  Watch this space.

A COUNTRY COTTAGE ?

Well, I guess I`m back in the groove and, like most days, today provided no problem finding something else to go on about.  (I promise myself, as well as you dear reader, that I will make the effort to move away from a daily diet of critique and wander into less stressful fields - possibly.)

Anyway, today my attention was drawn to the cost of renovating Frogmore Cottage near Windsor so that it was transformed into a residence befitting their extremely royal highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, aka Harry and Meghan,   Now of course we  are so pleased for them that this delightful and inspiring couple have been able to move out of the hurly-burly of Kensington Palace and relocate, along with young Archie, to the sylvan countryside around Windsor.   

And we are so pleased to see them take up residence in their newly renovated `cottage.`Only problem is that it has taken the princely sum of £2.4 million of taxpayers` money to convert what were five units into one to a standard befitting the royal occupants.   

I`ve long held the view that whilst I have no problem with Her Majesty the Queen, there is now a very extended royal family, all of whom seem to inhabit their private world of privilege and assumed entitlement largely at the taxpayer`s expense.  There are just too many of them and I`m not sure how long we can carry on dipping our hands in our pockets to keep them all in the style to which they have been accustomed .

As for Harry and Megs, at least they continue to call it Frogmore Cottage when in reality, thanks to the generosity of others, it is now anything but.

A CAUTIOUS RE-ENTRY....

OK.  I`ve been away from these pages for some weeks now and so it is with some trepidation that I make this cautious re-entry into the wonderful world of blogging.   The reason for my absence?  Well, in a nutshell I reached the stage when there was so much to rant about, grumble about, even rebel against that I frankly didn`t know where to begin.

In that regard, not much has changed - if anything the mad world we live in has become even more bonkers.  Despite which, I have been inundated with the odd enquiry as to my absence and a little encouragement to have another go, chiefly from my neighbour the well known error of judgement, Mr. Slightly.  But more on that story later.  

I have discovered that finding something to rail against is an almost daily occurrence and it`s difficult therefore to chose something  but I saw a report yesterday that seemed ripe for the attention it deserved, so here goes.

First, the illustration at the top is self-explanatory - not just Orwell`s classic but also the fact that there is something of a local connection - there`s a smart rather exclusive `development` up the road with just a few `desirable residences` which goes by the name of Orwell Spike as it sits on the site of an old workhouse - a spike - which Orwell frequented in his tramping around the countryside.

I was reminded of this when I saw a report yesterday that a school student had been suspended from his school in Aberdeenshire for insisting in his opinion that there were really only two genders and that anything else was the result of `social construct.`

The incident took place when the teacher logged on to a website and found only male or female gender types listed as options, which he claimed was ‘old fashioned’. When the schoolboy disagreed, he was ejected from the class. After being allowed back, he secretly filmed the teacher. In the video, which has been watched on YouTube more than 90,000 times, the teacher can be heard telling the pupil: ‘You’re entitled to your opinion but it is the policy of the authority to acknowledge inclusiveness."   

Seems that Big Brother really is watching you, at least in Aberdeen, although I suspect that the Orwellian Thought Police are pretty widespread in the daft age in which we live.   Time to update 1984 to 2019 and see if we can spot the difference?   I can imagine that the student in question probably goes by the name KZ6090 Smith, W.  But maybe it`s another case of `if you become a teacher, by your students you`ll be taught.`